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“I can’t really take credit for it. Jess did most of the work. She had to go home because it got late.” Looking at my watch to confirm, it’s eleven-fifty-two.
“Well, thank you for letting us have this conversation here. We wouldn’t have been able to talk in peace with all those people over there. But you didn’t need to come outside.”
“It’s all right, I like to. I do it almost every night. The silence and the cool breeze really clear my head.” He nods in understanding. “So, who’s there? At the Jensens’ I mean.” I try to ask the question innocently, but Nate easily reads between the lines.
“Bo’s not there, in that’s what you’re askin’.”
“Oh.”
“But his parents and his sister and her husband are.”
“Who’s staying in the downstairs guestroom?” I ask before I can stop myself.
He frowns. “Brynn and her husband.”
“Okay, yeah, that’s a nice room,” I say, playing off the interest in it. From his confused reaction, I could see that he hadn’t been informed of Bo’s and my interlude there.
“Anyway, I also want to apologize for actin’ like an ass the other day.” He rubs the back of his neck in that way men do when they’re bashful or embarrassed. In the barely there light cast by my citronella candle, I can see his shy smile and honest eyes.
“You don’t have to.” I wave his guilt away.
“Nah, I do. See, Jane explained how things happened. And while I don’t agree, I do feel for you. It’s just that I don’t like seeing Bo like this. Ever since he’s met you, he’s not his normal self. I think he’s got it bad for you.”
I rub my eyes and leave them closed for a second, feeling so tired, and it’s not just because of the lateness of the day. “You love him a lot, don’t you?”
“Yeah, like he’s my brother. Before Jane, he and my dad were all I had. Look, I know you have a lot on your mind, big decisions…” There goes that word again. Decisions. “And if’n you choose Bo, I’ll love you like a sister. Hell, I sort of already saw you as one till I found out the truth.”
“And if I don’t?” Because I just had to ask.
“If you don’t, nothin’. We won’t ever see each other again, though, that much I can guarantee.” Nate gets up and starts to head in, but before he opens the sliding door into my kitchen, he turns back to me and says, “Cris, I’d really like to love you as a sister.” And with that, he leaves me outside with nothing but the sound of the creek and the hunting owls for company.
